Lighten Up
by SunshineAndSecrets
Summary: Marceline has a gig booked at the Candy Kingdom but on the morning of the show she's having second thoughts. She hasn't seen the princess in years, after all. Some friendly advice sends her down memory lane, and in the process her newest song is written, one that's sure to hit PB right in the heartguts. But... it doesn't go quite as planned. One-shot! Sugarless Gum Fic!


Family Unties (Finding Emo)

Thunder crashed outside the cave that housed the small white house. Without the wind and rain pelting the sideboards it was just excess noise. Marceline growled. It's not like she was asleep but it bothered her anyways. It should be around dawn, just about the time the vampire queen would normally begin to settle down, but not today. Her insomnia was partly caused by the fact that she had gone on a red binge earlier due to nerves and was now buzzing with energy and partly because she was, was previously stated, nervous. She hadn't been this stupid in a years. About four years, actually, ever since the most recent time she was forced to leave Ooo. She hissed, because just like that her thought train had cycled right back to the subject she was trying in vain to avoid.

_Get the lump out of my brain,_ she grumbled to herself as she rolled over on her bed to face the pink wall. _Pink..._ she leapt up with a scream, frustration venting and falling on deaf ears. She snatched up her bass from where it rested against the wall, a pad of paper and a pen from her bedside table, then kicked open her window. She flew out, zooming from the dry air in her cave and into the raging storm. The sun had yet to breach the horizon and besides there was a thick wall of angry black clouds to block her from it's hurtful glare. Rain pelted down, reducing the vampire's visibility from fine to crappy. She growled to herself once more and flew off aimlessly. Well, not aimlessly. Anywhere but south. Then again she didn't want to go north either, because if she saw the kid knight and his guard dog she doubted she would be able to restrain herself from killing them. She liked the kid, sure, but not today.

She floated west, a bit aimlessly, but her fury refused to cool. A vibrant stream of curses floated down from her, dusting the earth with their profanity but she didn't care. A dark stand of trees caught her eye from below and she swooped down, a paltry amount of satisfaction trying to bubble up within her. She didn't allow it to. She settled in a low lying branch of one particularly old, wide tree. It cradled her as she slung her axe-bass into her lap. Absentmindedly she began to play. Humming along to chords and letting words spill from her lips without much regard for what they said. That night she would be playing a new gig and she didn't have a single new song to perform. She gritted her teeth and refused to think of it as anything more than a gig. That's all it was. Nothing more. Just a favor for a friend with a hefty pay check, and that was all.

Without her consent, long buried memories began to bubble to the surface, despite how she tried to suppress them.

_ Midnight had long passed, and the night was cold with the last vestiges of spring. Sugar lilies were springing up in the royal gardens and frost was becoming less and less frequent on the spearmint lawns. The moon hung heavy and full and turned the normally pink Candy Kingdom a silvery color. Any banana guard or citizen out for a late night stroll wouldn't notice such a small detail, but anyone who looked very closely atop the castle tower that marked the princess' room would see two small figures adorning it's roof top. Seeing as the Candy People had a tendency to frighten easily this was likely a good thing. Anyone who listened closely might be able to hear the strumming of a bass or murmured lyrics and the occasional question. You'd have to be very close for that, though._

_ Zooming in, the two figures become distinct and recognizable as the heir to the candy throne, Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum and local vagrant, the ancient Vampire Queen, Marceline Abadeer. Marceline is playing her bass with a cocky grin on her face and Bonnibel is rolling her eyes._

_ "Honestly," the princess says, "I don't even know why I bother with you. You're so full of yourself it's unbecoming of any monarch."_

_ "Ah, but I'm not just 'any monarch.'" Marceline retorts. "Look, all I'm saying is that you need to have mad skills to play a bass like this, alright?" Marceline strummed off another complex riff and Bonnibel had to agree, it was impressive, but she would never admit that aloud._

_ "You're so crude, I can hardly even fathom how you came to be this way."_

_ "Hey, living for a thousand years'll do that to a girl. Petty things like manners and fancy clothes don't mean much anymore after people figure out you're not gonna die one day, and that they're stuck with you. True colors really shine then, let me tell you," Marceline muttered, a tad bitter though she tried to hide it._

_ Bonnibel mulled this over. "I don't agree. I think civility always has it's benefits."_

_ "Oh really?" Marceline grinned, accepting the challenge any argument with the princess posed. "Say you've got some jerk off of a dad who wants you to take over the underworld and man, let me tell you, he is hell bent on it. A little 'pretty please with sugar on top' ain't gonna change his mind. It's either crack skulls or be cracked." Her fingers drifted idly over the strings, not really listening to the sounds they produced, just enjoying the feel of them._

_ Bonnibel was quiet for a moment, thinking of a retort, then said, "Protocol would have you sit down and work out some manner of treaty. There's always a compromise that can be made, even in the most adverse of situations."_

_ "Oh really? Well, you've never met my dad then. Take my word for it Bon, if you can't stand up for yourself, if all you've got are pretty words, people are going to walk all over you. If you don't have the bite to match your bark, how are people going to take you seriously?"_

_ "Honesty and a reputation of-"_

_ "Oh, would you stop that?" Marceline slugged her lightly in the shoulder. "I was just sayin', is all." She muttered, amused and annoyed that the princess always took things so seriously. "You need to lighten up."_

_ She expected the Princess to come back with some sort of royal retort, some stiff and primp response, but instead the pink girl's gaze bored straight into hers. Marceline's breath caught in her throat as, for the hundredth time that night, she though about just how pretty this particular girl was. She tried her hardest to keep her face impassive._

_ "I don't know how," Bonnibel said simply, seriously._

_ Marceline frowned. "Well that'll never do, will it? The Vampire Queen can't be caught hanging around with up-tight prissy girls, it would ruin my reputation! We'll just have to fix you, is all." A plan, hasty and crude popped up in Marceline's mind and before she could see reason she had put it into action._

_ "How?" The princess asked excitedly. She was so open and trusting it almost made the vampire think twice. Almost._

_ "Come over here," Marceline patted the roof space directly beside her. Also for the hundredth time that night Marceline had been thankful she had been able to talk Bonnibel into wearing normal clothes, jeans and a hoodie. That might have been dangerous in a dress. _

_ The princess obeyed, scooting right up beside Marceline, so close the vampire queen could smell the bubblegum scent wafting up from her hair. She inhaled deeply, hoping to clear her mind before she did whatever rash thing she had planned on, but that only served to intoxicate her further. "Now what?" The princess asked. Was it just the foggy state of her mind, or did the pink girl beside her sound a bit breathless? The volume of her voice had lowered and Marceline went crazy._

_ "Now..." she led off, her voice barely more than a whisper, her face barely more than a few inches from her 'friend's'. No time to look before she leaped now. They had been playing this game for weeks now. Dancing around one another, playing dumb and playing coy and she was damn sick of it. Marceline's head inched forward slowly. The princess had frozen and the vampire queen heard her breath hitch, and watched with dull fascination as her cheeks flooded with color. There was but an inch separating them now, and Marceline could feel the girl's breath on her lips. "Kiss me," she whispered, and the princess complied._

Marceline snapped back to reality with a jerk, slamming her head back into the tree she rested on with an audible 'thunk.' "Shit," she muttered under her breath, rubbing her abused cranium. She heard gasps below her and she looked down to see none other than Finn and Jake.

Before she could shoo them away Finn opened his mouth and crowed out, "Potty mouth!"

Marceline glared down at them and said, crossly, "Aw, now what the hell, did you follow me here?"

"We saw you fly by the tree house and I figured you looked all bummed and bizz," Finn said, settling down on the grass below them, mindless of the storm that raged around them. Jake on the other had seemed less than pleased but he was there nonetheless.

"And you figured I'd want to talk about it?" Marceline asked dryly.

"Yeah!" Finn said, excited.

The vampire queen rolled her eyes. "Well, you figured wrong, kiddo. Even if I was bummed, which I'm not say I am, who's to say I'd spill my heart guts to you?"

Finn frowned, "Aw, come on, Marcy! We're buds! And buds tell buds their crud, isn't that right, Jake?"

"He's right, it's written in the Code of Buds." Jake shrugged as if it settled the matter.

Marceline sighed, figuring what the hell. Not that she could tell them all of it, Jake might understand but Finn sure wouldn't. "Eh, I was just thinking about some crud from back before I left Ooo. Just brain jamming, trying to stir up some inspiration for tonight's show."

Finn grinned, "Which is going to be super math, right? Thanks so so _so_ much for helping out, Marce!"

The vampire waved him off, saying, "Yeah, yeah."

Jake frowned. "You don't seem all... pumped, like you usually are. You are gonna show, aren't you?"

"I'll be there," Marceline glared down at the yellow dog for insinuating that she would ever bail on a gig.

"Easy, easy! I just meant you don't look real jazzed, is all! You got some kind of issue with the Candy Kingdom?"

Marceline frowned, memories fogging over her eyes once more.

_Everything was perfect. Marceline could remember ever begin as happy as she had been the last year. One year exactly, today. It was the same kind of night, clear and cold with the vanishing spring. Marceline didn't both to knock at the window like she used to, now it was wide open and waiting for her, and she swooped right in. A big smile was plastered on her face as she caught sight of her girlfriend arranging her hair in the mirror. Unseen, Marceline flew up higher into the air and drifted until she was right overtop of Bonnibel before dropping down behind her._

_ "Boo," she said, snatching the pink girl up from her chair and pulling her into her arms. She muffled her surprised squeak with a chaste kiss._

_ "Marcy!" Bonnibel said after pulling away for air. "What have I told you about-"_

_ "You read to go?" Marceline asked. From behind her back she pulled out a bouquet of roses, all red except for the center one, the biggest one, which had been drained gray. All the candy princess' protests ceased as she saw the flowers. She smiled and accepted them, bringing them up to her nose and inhaling deep. "Wow, these are beautiful! Wherever did you get them? They're out of season!"_

_ "Flew all the way to Flower Kingdom," Marceline said, proud of herself._

_ Bonnibel squealed and jumped up, locking her arms around the vampire's neck and locking her lips as well. Marceline was quick and eager to return the girls kiss, smiling into it as her hands slipped to the pink girl's waist. One thumb ducked into the lining of her jeans and Bonnibel pulled away, laughing. "No, not now or we're gonna be late."_

_ Marceline frowned, and whined "I would much rather-"_

_ "No," Bonnibel said, quieting the girl with a quick kiss. "I'm ready, so lets go."_

_ Marceline bowed deeply before sweeping the younger girl into her arms, bridal style. "Your wish is my command."_

_ Bonnibel threw the roses onto her bed as they passed, murmuring in the vampire's ear, "There, they'll be waiting for us when we get back."_

_ Marceline just smiled._

_ The concert was awesome. It was one of Marceline's all time favorite bands and she had converted Bonnibel over as soon as they had started dating a year ago. The normally uptight princess had somehow fallen madly in love with the rock music and had peppered the vampire for days with all kinds of questions involving everything punk-rock. Marceline had loved it. Now they stood in the front row, right before the stage, jumping and signing along and watching in awe as lasers sliced through clouds of fog and sparks shot into the air. The crowd was huge and the energy they generated seeped into every there, intoxicating them and filling their brains with fizz._

_ The show went on for four hours and by the end Marceline knew the princess was nearly ready to drop dead on her feet. There were still two or three songs yet to be played but Marceline didn't care about that so much as she care that her princess wouldn't get sick or fatigued from the exertion. She swept the girl up into her arms for the second time and listened with pride as the entire show saw them and whistled and cat called. For added flourish Marceline dipped the princess in her arms and kissed her long and sweet in front of everyone. The crowd went wild and their favorite band even cheered them on. Marceline bowed the the crowd before flying back towards the admission gates. A booth caught her interest from the corner of her eye and she alighted back down._

_ "I'll take one of those," she said, gesturing to a shirt on the wall, "About this size," she said, pointing down to the princess already asleep in her eyes._

_ The werewolf behind the counter grinned and produced one from under the counter. "Here you go."_

_ "How much?" Marceline asked._

_ "On the house," he shrugged. "I saw you two out there getting the crowd all jazzed up. Good for you. Take something home to remember it by."_

_ Marceline grinned and held out a fist. The sales-wolf returned the gesture and bumped, as protocol demanded. "Thanks man," was all the queen said before she flew her princess home._

_ As these things were wont to happen, the return trip went way too fast. Before she knew it they were back at the princess' tower bedroom. Marceline saw the roses sitting there, just as the princess had left them, and smiled sadly. Not tonight... Bonnibel awoke just as Marceline had finished tucking her in. She found herself clothed in pink shorts and a black band shirt and she frowned. "Oh glob, I fell asleep, didn't I?" Her voice was slurred with sleep. "I'm sorry Marcy, come over here. I promised you we would tonight." The pink girl held out her arms and Marceline chuckled, settling down beside the girl._

_ "Nah, you're too tired, babe. Next time." She leaned in and kissed her gently on the forehead._

_ Bonnibel frowned. "I'm sorry, I ruined your evening with my lameness, didn't I?"_

_ Marceline scoffed, truly astounded by the very thought. "You kidding me? This is the best night I've ever had. Nothing could ruin this night. Now you go to sleep, I'll stay for as long as I can."_

_ "Alright," Bonnibel said, lifting the covers so Marceline could slide in. The queen was quick to comply, shivering at the warmth her girlfriend had already generated. The pink girl nuzzled into her front and muttered once more, "Marcy?"_

_ "Yeah?" the vampire whispered._

_ "Thanks for tonight. I love you," the girl yawned again._

_ "I love you, too," Marceline whispered even more softly, though if Bonnibel was awake to hear her or not she wasn't sure._

"Yo, Marce?" Finn asked, snapping his fingers.

"Whuzzat?" Marceline zoned back in with vertigo-inducing speed. "Oh, sorry, I spaced out. What'd you say, Jake?"

"I asked why you were so un-jazzed about playing for Candy Kingdom tonight!"

Marceline's breath swooshed out of her. "Eh... I used to date someone from there," she muttered.

Finn's jaw dropped open and he brought his hands to his mouth, "No way! Who? Maybe we know him!"

Marceline sneered down at the boy, "It's none of your lumping business!"

"Oh, I see what's goin' on!" Jake grinned. "You worried about bumping into him, eh?"

Marceline turned away and grumbled, "Yeah, I guess. I haven't bumped into them yet since I got back so, I don't know, kinda weirding out."

"What you need to do is make a statement!" Jake said, rubbing his hands together as if he had some sort of master plan.

"What's that?" Marceline asked through narrowed eyes.

"You're all worried about bumping into him, right? Well, what for?! You should come in on that stage all 'bam, pa-chow!' with lasers and sparks and bizz and rock the funk out and he'll just be there in the crowd like oh my glob, and he'll be all jelly! Then you won't have to think a watt about him because he'll be thinking all about you!"

Marceline frowned as she considered this. "You might have a point, Jake," she said, strumming another riff on her bass. "Solid. Challenge accepted! Now scram so I can get my lyrical retaliation all figured out!"

Finn jumped to his feet and saluted, saying, "Ma'am, yes ma'am! Glad we could help, Marce! See you at PB's birthday jam!"

"Yeah, see ya guys!" She called after them.

She figured if she was going to do this right she'd have to dig deep. She gritted her teeth and delved deep into her inspiration well. What exactly had turned her so sour, anyways?

_The door to Marceline's bedroom slammed shut, and angry princess storming out. Marceline floated after her, tugging a shirt over her head as she went. Her cheeks were flushed with confused anger as she stomped after her girlfriend's steamed form, not even bothering to fly._

_ "What the lump, Bonnie! I'm sorry, alright?"_

_ She found her girlfriend clad only in jeans and a bra, standing in her living room and staring cross-armed out the front window. He poise was tense and unrelenting._

_ "What did I even do!?" Marceline asked, walking up behind the pink girl, grabbing her by the shoulder and turning her around, only to find tears leaking down the princess' cheeks._

_ "You're so insensitive!" Bonnibel brushed off the queen's touch, stepping closer to the door. Panic clenched in Marceline's throat when she realized what could possibly be looming on the horizon. "You're crude and crass and distasteful!"_

_ "But that's just who I am! I'm sorry, but I can't change it!"_

_ "Then we have a problem, don't we? Because I can't very well handle the whole Kingdom's weight on my shoulders and the responsibility of keeping this under wraps anymore! It's wearing me too thin, and the last thing I need is your leering ways in whatever down time I manage to make nowadays!"_

_ Anger kindled in Marceline's gut and she spat out, "Maybe if you actually let me be seen with you in public you wouldn't be so stressed all the time! You could just let it happen and relax for once in your who lumping life!"_

_ "You know why I can't do that!" Bonnibel whirled on her, tears streaming down her face and oblivious to the one's that were springing up in the vampire's eyes as well. "You know that the Candy People wouldn't understand!"_

_ "What, are they too sensitive? Or are you just scared they might actually see you as anything less than a Goddess?"_

_ Bonnibel shrieked and raised grappling hands, motioning as if she wanted to strangle the gray girl. "Marceline, this isn't helping at all! Ugh, I could _strangle_ you, you are so infuriating! We've talked about this!"_

_ "Well maybe I'm tired of being your dirty little secret! I don't know why you need to make this so much harder for the both of us! Shit, Bonnie, just chill out!"_

_ "Says the absentee Queen! Duty demands sacrifice, Marceline! You don't care what you're people do, but I love mine!"_

_ "A lot more than you love me, apparently!" Marceline hissed, tears falling free fro her brimming eyes now. "Fine then! I don't want to be second place anymore, I'm damn sick of it. So you take your people and you love them and I hope you'll be able to look back on this day in a few years and be happy with the choice you made!"_

_ "Fine!" Bonnibel yelled, storming past the vampire and into her bedroom. Marceline didn't bother to follow her and a few moments later the princess brushed past her once more, not sparing a word as she stormed out the door. Marceline watched from the window as the princess pulled her antique cell phone from her pocket and made a call. Moments later her friend Lady Rainacorn swooped down from the sky and spirited her now ex-girlfriend away. Tears still slipped down Marceline's face as she grabbed her bass and flew out the door as well. She wouldn't return for many years._

"Finally," Marceline muttered, putting the finishing touches on her latest song. This would get Bonnibel's attention for sure. She looked up to see that the storm had stopped and the skies were in danger of clearing. Marceline cursed under her breath and flew quickly back to her cave. Now that her emotional junk had been unloaded she felt her long displaced drowsiness closing in. As soon as she was inside she fell face first onto her stone-like couch and she was out like a light.

The sun sank in a partly cloudy sky, and all the moisture still in the air had prompted them to light up a bright red-orange color. Marceline awoke at the tail end of this, just early enough to see the colors deepen into an indigo spectrum. Nerves prodded at her heartguts still but she shoved them down and stomped on them a bit, telling herself that she had a goal tonight, and that was to make PB see how much she was missing out on. Maybe not even to take her back, but at least to make the princess think about everything they had been. With that thought in mind Marceline steeled herself and floated upstairs to get ready.

The moon glowed in the night sky, still painfully spring and still painfully cool, though so many years had passed since that first night. Marceline allowed herself the indulgence of floating up to the top of the Princess' tower to inspect the site where they had had their first kiss. Nothing had changed and everything had changed, all at once. Marceline sneered down at the shingles, trying to frighten away her own emotions. They would do her no good tonight anyways. Satisfied, she flew back down towards the main hall. She stashed her bass on the roof before transforming into her smallest form, a little vampire bat, then flew in through one of the open windows.

According to Finn, the princess had allowed him to plan the whole party because, also according to Finn, he knew a lump-load of people in Ooo and he knew what they liked. As such there were no fancy clothes or gowns or dresses here. There was no banquet table or candlelit chandeliers, but instead there was a whole slew of people dressed pretty casually, and the room was dimmed and lit up with lights, a myriad of different colors, streaming all over the walls and floors. A generous amount of fog hung low to the floor and clouded the air a tad. Marceline smiled. Pretty nice, she'd have to admit. The kid did good. At the far end of the hall sat a stage, decked out with mics and cables, drums and amps, and stands holding guitars and basses.

A flash of blue, yellow, and pink caught her attention and the bat turned it's head towards the opposite side of the great hall. There stood Finn and Jake talking to Bonnibel. The girl was in a dress Marceline would never have imagined her capable of wearing, at least not in public. It was a deep pink hue, nearly scarlet, and shimmery. It hugged her form and cut off just above her knees, and dipped down in the back and the front. Her tiara was in place as always, but her hair had been done up in an intricate bun-and-braid design. She had only grown more beautiful in the years Marceline had been gone, and for a moment the vampire queen experienced the crushing realization that she would be exactly the same.

She brushed the thought away and fluttered closer.

"Who did you say you got to play again, Finn?" Bonnie spoke and once more Marceline had to force her throat stop stop constricting. _Get a handle on yourself, girl! It may be Bonnibel's birthday, but this is still _your_ night!_

"Only the best musician in Ooo!" Finn said exuberantly.

"Yeah, but I really doubt you'd know her," Jake laughed and Marceline knew he was trying to picture the princess having anything to do with a vampire, and having trouble with it. Marceline laughed to herself and grinned.

"As long as she shows up, I'm fine with it," The princess grumbled and crossed her arms. Marceline noticed the action mostly because it forced her already partially exposed breasts up even higher. She watched as Finn's eyes flitted down as well and anger sparked inside of her. _Oh _hell_ naw, _she thought to herself.

"She'll show," Jake assured. "Any minute now the show will start, I promise. She has a flare for entrances sometimes," he muttered and once again the vampire grinned. That she did.

Will all due haste Marceline flew back up to the roof and grabbed at her bass. She flew up to sit on the window sill just over the stage. Using a trick she had picked up in her travels, she used the same magic she used to fly to move the air around her and pull the fog towards the stage. As it began to gather the party goers turned their attention towards the stage but not to her. When all the fog was amassed before her pulled up high enough to cover the window, she jumped down onto the stage soundlessly. She summoned her undead band members and as soon as they were all there, she forced the fog outward with an audible whoosh, simultaneously strumming down on her bass. The crowd went wild.

"Hey there, Ooo!" She called her, her voice maybe a bit deeper and more sultry than it normally was. "It's great to see you again!" Marceline wore a ripped up white tank top that cut off just high enough to show a pierced naval with a silver stud in it. Over top she wore a sleek studded leather jacket. Her skinny jeans were dark blue and her signature red boots came up to her knees. Her make up and hair were flawless, she knew, because she had spent way too much damn time on them both. She looked sexy as hell, and she knew it, and everyone in the building damn well knew it too.

The crowd screamed for her and she refused to let herself scan the room for the pink dot she could practically _feel_ staring at her, knowing it would throw her off.

"You ready for some _real_ music"

They screamed again and she smiled wolfishly and she began.

_Do you ever feel guilty when you're lying there in bed  
Thinking about the perfect life we could have had  
Good from the start but you fell apart  
And now we're all alone instead_

Marceline's hungry eyes scanned the crowd directly in front of her, making eye contact with each and every one of them and watching as their energy grew into a nearly palpable resonance. They were really vibing her music and she wasn't about to deny them. She had a story to tell.

_I should have seen the storm coming from a mile away  
I should have barred the doors just to make you stay  
I can't stand the raining tears  
Don't want to hear the anger every day_

You say you'll make it up to me somehow someday  
I shouldn't think about the past  
But the past won't go away

How would that admission make Bonnibel feel? Had she recognized this for what it was yet? Had she grasped just what Marceline was doing? Hell, did she even recognized Marceline? There were so many questions she wanted answers to, but if everything went according to plan once the show was over with Marceline would fly out the windows never to be seen again. She wanted to give the princess one last teasing taste, show her everything she could have had if she'd only been willing to be diplomatic, and to compromise. Against her orders, the vampire's eyes began to rove over the rest of the crowd.__

I don't want the clouds to roll in  
When the sun's been out all day  
I never realized the things we had  
Until you took them all away

_I just wanted you to know that  
What you do affects us all  
I should have seen the ending and stopped pretending  
Cause the writing's on the wall_

Finn watched Marceline's performance with awe written all over his face. "Glob, I knew Marcy was good, but I've never seen her perform like this!"

"Yeah man, I guess she took our advice!"

"Looks like!" Finn said, fist bumping his bro. "Hey Princess, what do you think- ...Princess?" Finn asked, looking over at PB for the first time since the show began and found her with her jaw down and a blush playing over her cheeks, eyes wide and hands balled into fists. Finn stepped towards her and poked her in the arm with no result. Finn turned back to Jake and said, "Dude, I think she's been completely over taken by Marcy's awesomeness!"

"She's been entranced by the music!" Jake said, excitedly.

"That's no good, man! What if she gets stuck like this?"

Jake's brow furrowed. "Hmm, you've got a point." He looked at the heir and stretched out his arm, grabbing her shoulder and shaking her. "PB? Snap out of it, Princess! You're wigging us out, here!"

"Wha'?" She gasped, snapping back into reality.

"What's wrong with you, PB? We know Marceline is pretty lump-tastic, but still! What's up?"

Princess Bubblegum just shook her heard slowly and muttered, "I just haven't seen her in a while, I guess," before she could think about what she was saying.

Jake gasped. "What? You know her? Like, you just know _of_ her, right?"

Princess Bubblegum smiled and shook her head, saying, "Nah, we were... really close actually, before she left." A frown crossed her face and she began to weave her way closer to the stage.

Finn was flabbergasted. "Wow! Who would have thought that someone like PB would chill with someone like Marcy?"

"I know, dude! You don't think... that maybe the guy Marcy was talking about... was actually?" Jake led off.

"Huh?" Finn said, fairly confused.

Jake smiled at his bro's naivety and waved it off. "Nothin' man, I'm just messing with your head!"

Finn just laughed and started dancing, but Jake turned serious the moment the attention was off of him, watching the two girls intently. Marceline rocked on.__

Did you ever think about the consequences  
Leaving all of us alone and defenseless  
You can't deal with complications  
It's not fair no more vacations

_How can you just sit there tongue-tied  
With nothing to say  
Can you give back our fucking house you gave away  
I got no respect for you  
Did you think through the things you shouldn't say_

_You say you'll make it up to me somehow someday  
I shouldn't think about the past  
But the past won't go away_

I don't want the clouds to roll in  
When the sun's been out all day  
I never realized the things we had  
Until you took them all away

_I just wanted you to know that  
What you do affects us all  
I should have seen the ending and stopped pretending  
Cause the writing's on the wall_

_The writing's on the wall_

_The writing's on the wall_

Marceline glimpsed the Princess just as she left the boy's sides and began to make her way towards the stage. _Uh oh,_ Marceline thought. She had counted on Bonnie being too surprised or cowardly to get up close. If Bonnibel was standing right there in the front row Marceline was sure she'd be able to keep her game face on. _But ins't that a good thing?_ Marceline asked herself. _Use this opportunity to your advantage! Strut around a little! Show off! Make her miss you, make her _regret everything,she thought to herself with a wicked smile on her face. Marceline tossed her hair over her shoulder and wove one hand up into it, striking a pose just as a drum bout hit. She caught the Princess' eye as she got ever closer and smirked. Marceline was loving this, every second of it. Her worry earlier in the day seemed so pointless now. This was _perfect_. Marceline sought out the Princess' eye and winked.__

So fuck off  
I'm not changing anything  
No words can describe my feeling  
I can't keep these thoughts up on the shelf  
Think twice before you sell our house  
And every memory we've had to share  
Go and share them with yourself 

_I don't want the clouds to roll in  
When the sun's been out all day  
I never realized the things we had  
Until you took them all away_

_I just wanted you to know that  
What you do affects us all  
I should have seen the ending and stopped pretending  
Cause the writing's on the wall_

_The writing's on the wall_

_The writing's on the wall_

_The writing's on the wall_

_The writing's on the wall_

The song ended and the Candy Kingdom great hall roared with applause, so loud and boisterous Marceline feared it would shake the roof right down on top of them. She grinned, fangs flashing in the laser light. She struck her final note and hefted her bass one handed up above her head. She basked in the glow the the attention, of having made her point. She looked down to where the Princess stood, being jostled about like leaf in the wind, not far from the stage. With tears in her eyes. _Aw, shit,_ Marceline thought to herself. She watched as the Princess turned and stalked from the hall, unnoticed by everyone (minus one magical dog, that is.) Marceline's energy was gone, and she still had four more songs to do.

Admittedly, she rushed through them, but the Candy People lacked enough taste in music that they didn't notice much of anything. The second the last note of the last song was over with, Marceline stepped on the trigger built into the stage and sent up a puff of smoke. She flew up and out the window, frantic to find where Bonnibel had run off to. She circled the castle, hoping to find her outdoors somewhere. And outdoors she was, but in such a place that Marceline barely had the courage to go to her. Gulping, Marceline made her way towards the roof of the Princess' tower bedroom. The small and lonesome figure could be heard sobbing and Marceline felt her heart traitorously break all over again.

She had approached unnoticed, and the Princess jumped when Marceline cleared her throat. The pink girl's eyes flashed up, red and puffy, before falling back onto her knees. "Here to gloat?"

"Nah," Marceline said, and realized with dawning horror that she wasn't lying. Where was the anger? Where was the hurt and rejection she had held onto for so long? Now that she needed it, as per usual, it had abandoned her. Awkwardly, Marceline tried to break the silence. "So, how'd you get up here on your own?"

"I'm not helpless, you know," the princess hissed.

"I know, I know," Marceline said, holding her hands up before her in a n effort to stave off the pink girl's ire. "It's just I always had to fly you up here, before... you know... yeah," she finished lamely. The princess did not respond. Marceline cleared her throat again and asked, "So, can I sit?"

The princess lifted her head just enough to glare at the imposing girl, and she asked, "What do you want, Marceline?"

Marceline frowned, "I just haven't seen you in a while..."

"What the hell were you trying to pull with that song?" Bonnibel asked, getting straight to the point.

Regret fluttered in Marceline's gut and she winced. "About that..."

"'Hey Bonnibel, I'm back after ditching Ooo for the past four years, now let me sing you a song about what an idiot you were,' is that it?" She mocked in an imitation of Marceline's voice.

"No, no! Well, yeah, kind but I'm really sorry! If I knew it would make you all like this I wouldn't have done it! It was Jake's idea!" She said, grasping at threads.

"What? You told Jake-" The princess' head sprang up, voice raising.

"No! Oh dammit, no! Would you listen to me?" She didn't wait for a response, but instead began to word vomit everything with litter regard for her own personal pride or well being. She just wanted to get it all out there. "I've been bumming out over you since I left and then Finn came and asked me to tdo the show and at first I was really excited tos ee you again but then I started freaking out because I figured you had moved on and would be all happy but I was just going to still be me and be all bummed still and I was freaking out! And I couldn't sleep so I flew out into the storm this morning to strum up some tunes and Jake and Finn found me and asked why I was bummin' and I said because eI sued to date someone in the Candy Kingdom and I was nervous and they said to make them jealous and miss me so I tried and I failed and I just really miss you I'm sorry!" Marceline blushed crimson red as her tirade came to a halt.

The princess' eyes were wide and receptive, watching her like an eagle would watch a mouse. "Do you really mean that?"

Marceline, stunned and scared, just nodded.

Bonnibel was quiet for a long while before she looked down at her hands and chuckled. She patted the roof beside her and said, "Come here. You need to lighten up."

Marceline smiled.


End file.
